Election to test British PM

LONDON -- After a first week in office saw him booed in Scotland and berated in Belfast, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was facing his first electoral test Thursday -- a special election potentially seeing his Conservative government's working majority in Parliament cut to just one vote.

Voters are electing a lawmaker in a by-election for the seat of Brecon and Radnorshire in Wales after Conservative incumbent Chris Davies was ousted. He was dumped by a petition of local electors after being convicted of an $847 expenses fraud.

Davies is running to regain the seat but faces a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats' Jane Dodds in a vote overshadowed by Brexit. Results are expected early today.

In Britain's 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, the Brecon constituency -- a hilly, largely rural area about 175 miles west of London -- voted by 52%-48% to leave the EU, an outcome exactly matching the national result.

As in the rest of the U.K., the area's voters remain deeply divided over the decision -- and over the fact, three years later, Britain is still a member of the 28-nation bloc.

Johnson became prime minister last week after winning a Conservative leadership race by vowing to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal.

The Conservatives hope Johnson's commitment to complete Brexit "come what may" will neutralize a challenge from the new Brexit Party, led by longtime euroskeptic Nigel Farage.

The pro-EU Liberal Democrats are hoping to win support from Welch voters opposed to Brexit.

The centrist Liberal Democrats hold just 12 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons but have seen their support surge because of their call for Britain to remain in the EU. In European Parliament elections in May, the party took 20% of U.K. votes, trouncing both the Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party, whose leadership is divided over Brexit.

Johnson, who visited the area Tuesday, said "a vote for any party other than Conservatives pushes the Liberal Democrats one step closer to cancelling the (Brexit) referendum result."

While many farmers back Brexit out of frustration with the EU's rules-heavy Common Agricultural Policy, sheep farmers in Brecon worry, without an EU divorce deal, steep tariffs on lamb exports will devastate their business.

Johnson was criticized by Welsh farmers and booed in the Welch capital, Cardiff, this week during his first tour of the U.K. as prime minister.

He also faced jeers from Scottish independence protesters in Edinburgh and censure from politicians in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Both areas voted to remain in the EU, and many residents resent being forced to leave the bloc against their will.

Johnson has just more than 90 days to secure and ratify a new divorce deal with the EU, or get Britain ready to leave the 28-nation bloc without one. Lawmakers are unlikely to make it easy for him.

The Conservatives lack an overall majority in the House of Commons and rely on an alliance with 10 lawmakers from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party. If the Conservatives lose the Brecon seat, the governing alliance will have 320 of the 639 voting lawmakers -- the bare minimum needed to carry votes.